Clock Is Ticking For Lawmakers To Strike A Budget Deal

Lawmakers are back at the state Capitol still working to find common ground to solve the state's multi-million dollar budget hole.

There is still no agenda for Monday's budget committee meeting and the clock is ticking before agencies will have to start making cuts.

In the last few weeks, News 9 has reported on $215 million worth of cuts to the departments of health, human services and mental health, but now, lawmakers have begun talking about spreading the pain across state agencies.

New numbers out now show cuts could be coming to the Department of Public Safety which could be cut $2 million.

The Department of Corrections would lose $7.5 million amid an inmate population and staffing crisis.

The already deeply wounded Department of Education could see major cuts to the tune of $39 million.

Other agencies would see the what now feels like an annual 3 percent cut.

The rest of the money could possibly be made up through money that was left over from last year and emergency money from the Rainy Day Fund.

This solution however does not help next year's budget which is already projected to fall short of what's needed.

There is still no set agenda or public plan to reach a compromise. Lawmakers have until Friday to meet a deadline to get tax policies set so they can be implemented next year.